A new framework for showing why deservingness politics, more than ideology, has become the central battleground for social policy in a polarized age.

Why do Americans support some government programs but not others? In Deserving Americans, Chris Faricy and Christopher Ellis argue that the answer lies in identity, not ideology. Specifically, support for particular social policies depends on perceptions of whether beneficiaries of government assistance actually deserve the aid that they receive. As partisanship and social identity have converged, partisans increasingly view government aid as a vehicle for rewarding ingroups and punishing outgroups, creating a politics polarized on identity and who government should serve.

Faricy and Ellis show how these dynamics play out across a wide range of policy domains, from antipoverty to health care to family policy and more. Their findings help to clarify many of our current predicaments, yielding insights that explain trends in public opinion and partisan debates over public policy. Deserving Americans offers a powerful new framework for understanding how Americans view social policy—and each other.